Biden pulls ATF nominee, in setback for gun safety advocates

David Chipman — (Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has had only one Senate-confirmed director since 2006 — B. Todd Jones in 2013 — and it won't have a new one anytime soon. The White House said Thursday that President Biden has withdrawn the nomination of David Chipman, a former ATF agent who later advocated for new gun safety laws as a top official at the gun violence prevention group Giffords, after it couldn't find 50 Senate votes to confirm him.

Sen. Angus King (I-Vt.) had told the White House he wouldn't support Chipman's nomination, and Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) were noncommittal. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that Biden would nominate a new director "at an appropriate time," and a White House official told Politico that Biden won't create a Cabinet-level, non-Senate-confirmable position on gun violence, as some advocates want. "We have an office in the White House on gun policy, which is the Domestic Policy Council," the official said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.